HILL Country Report: Germany
31.08.2009: Germany is a country that lies at the heart of Western Europe, stretching from the Alps over the low mountain country up to the Northern German lowlands. The Federal Republic of Germany is a federation country consisting of 16 German states, which are subdivided into regional administrative bodies. The capital city is Berlin, which lies in the north-east. The Federal Republic is, in accordance with its constitution, a social, constitutional and federal democracy. It is a founding member of the European Union, and with over 82 million inhabitants is its most populated country.
Germany is the most important transport hub between Scandinavia and the Mediterranean area as well as between Eastern and Western Europe, and possesses the highest number of neighbouring countries in Europe: it borders Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. With Hamburg and Bremen, the country possesses important ports. The three largest German cities are Berlin (3.4 million inhabitants), Hamburg (1.7 million inhabitants) and Munich (1.3 million inhabitants).
Although at 1.3% economic growth in 2008 was 0.6 percentage points above the Eurozone average, prognoses for 2009 indicate an above - EU average economic contraction of over 6%. Read more >>
According to a study by the audit firm Ernst & Young, Germany is the most attractive economic area in Europe. Due to the reduction in corporate tax in 2008 from 25% to 15% and the labour market reforms, the German economy has become even more attractive.
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Labour market, personnel and education
The German workforce has an excellent reputation worldwide. Competence, innovation and reliability are attributed to German employees. German skilled workers are among the best trained and are distinguished by loyalty and motivation. Read more >>
The HILL International office in Wiesbaden was founded in 2002. The team, under the two directors Carola Scheffel and Elisabeth Leyser, provide consulting for medium-sized companies and multinational concerns from the most differentiated branches.
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